1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate generally to the operation of content distribution systems, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for subscribing to multimedia delivery services in a data network.
2. Background
The distribution of services (data and/or other multimedia content) to a large number of devices is a complicated problem. This is especially true for mobile devices that communicate using relatively slow over-the-air communication links and which may have one or more resource limitations, such as limited memory resources. Therefore, it is very important for network administrators and service providers to have a way that allows mobile devices to easily and efficiently subscribe to receive content and/or other network services that will operate on such resource limited devices.
In current content delivery/media distribution systems, subscriptions are typically handled over the Internet via one or more customer sign-up pages, or as in traditional cable and satellite systems, via a telephone call made by the customer to a customer service representative. The sign-up page model may even offer one or more pages that are specifically formatted (i.e., WML, XHTML) for presentation on a mobile device. For example, a device user first needs to launch a data session with a service provider in order to view the service offerings. After selecting an offering for subscription, the user needs to complete one or more forms that are downloaded from the server and rendered on the device. Generally, because the forms are formatted for rendering on the relatively small screen available on the portable device, multiple forms need to be completed. Furthermore, because the entire process is conducted over-the-air, the relatively low transmission speeds make the subscription process very slow. Unfortunately, this approach is essentially just a variation of the Internet sign-up page model and is generally tedious and inefficient when used in conjunction with resource limited portable devices.
Furthermore, current systems offer service packages to a wide range of devices without accounting for the resources available at each device. For example, services that require large amounts of memory are offered to devices with limited memory resources. As a result, the services may not operate properly at the device and may even damage the operation of the device with respect to other services or functions.
Therefore, what is needed is a subscription system that allows a device to easily subscribe to one or more service packages. The system should also operate to prevent the device from subscribing to services that cannot be accommodated by the available resources at the device.